From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Jesus had such zeal for the house of God, has such a passion, such a fire for the house of God. That's why when he saw what they were doing in the temple, his blood began to boil. How dare you do this? His authority was on full display. This is God in the flesh. Nobody came up and said, you can't do that. How dare you do that? I'm going to I'm going to fight you, Jesus. Nobody did that. Why? Cuz when the lion of the tribe of Judah is roaring, you back up. And they backed up.

Larry Nobles: People often misunderstand the passage of scripture where Jesus overturns the tables in the temple and drives out the money changers. And modern day protesters have taken Jesus's actions as a pretext to cause damage to people's property. And they say, we're just being like Jesus. Well, is that really the case? This is Promise Heart with pastor Jeff Shreve. And today's message is called Flipping Tables. It's from pastor Jeff's new six lesson series, Watch and Pray. We're airing part two of this timely lesson, but you can check out part one when you go to promiseheart.org and click the listen link.

You can also download a free MP3 of this broadcast or any broadcast when you go to promiseheart.org. And you can also request the series, Watch and Pray, for a gift of any amount to Promise Heart this month. Now though, open your Bible to the book of Mark chapter 11 and prepare to observe the emptiness of religion that lacks true repentance and faith. Here's pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: It says in verse 15 of Mark chapter 11, then they came to Jerusalem and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And he began to teach and to say to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a robber's den. The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began seeking how to destroy him.

For they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. People misunderstand this passage of scripture. You have protesters who say, see, we have a right to protest cuz Jesus flipped tables and Jesus, he wasn't nice about it. And so if we go and we protest and people's property gets damaged or we block the highway or whatever or we're just being like Jesus. You're being nothing like Jesus when you do that. And so the question comes into play, why in the world did Jesus start flipping tables? Why was he so angry?

Well, I want to give you two key reasons to help you understand this. Number one, his father's house was being desecrated. All that open area around the temple is called the court of the Gentiles. They had turned that area into what they called Josephus called it uh the bazaar of Annas and his sons. Annas was high priest. That's not what it was designed for to be a house of business, a house of trade, but that's what he saw that day. A house of commerce. And he even said in John chapter 2 verse 16, and to those who were selling the doves, he said, take these things away.

Stop making my father's house a place of business. What were they doing there? Well, that whole area, the court of the Gentiles, they had set up a table for changing money. You had to exchange all your money. And so people had to do that because you couldn't buy the animals that you needed. You couldn't pay your temple tax with Roman coins or with Greek coins. You had to have the Jewish coin. Now the exchange rate was normally 4 to 8 %. At the temple, the exchange rate was up to 50 %. I mean it was it was so high.

And the people are getting ripped off. And in addition to the money changers, then you had people selling doves and selling lambs and selling, you know, other livestock for sacrifices. And all those things were kosher approved. If you said, well, I'm going to bring my own animal that I took, we walked for 40 miles to get here and I'm going to take my own animal, what would the priest do? Your animal's no good. You can't use that animal. That animal's blemished. You have to buy one of our kosher approved animals. And how much would that be?

Well, that's going to be uh marked up. Some said uh marked up sometimes 1,600 %. I mean they were ripping the people off. So that his house had been turned into a house of commerce. His house had been in turned into a house of extortion. And then his house had been turned, as Jesus said, into a den of thieves, a den of robbers. Supposed to be a house of prayer, p r a y e r. A house of praying, but it turned into a house of praying, p r e y i n g. They prayed on the people.

And Jesus said, you've turned my father's house into a robber's den. He quotes from Jeremiah 7:11, has this house, which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I have seen it, declares the Lord. That 's what Jesus saw that day. His father's house was being desecrated and he flipped tables. Secondly, his father's house was being hijacked. Why did God have a temple for his people? Isaiah chapter 56 verses six and seven. The scripture says this, also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even those I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. God wants his house to be called a house of prayer. God built his house for all the nations to connect with God. That's the point of prayer. It's connection with God. How do we do that through prayer? And everything that we do is to point people to pray. And everything we do as a church is to help people connect with God through Jesus Christ. During the Old Testament time and during the time of Jesus, if you wanted to find out about God, if you wanted to connect with God, where did you go?

You went to the temple. Why? Cuz that was God's house. You want you want to go to God's house. I mean if I if I want to visit you, I'm going to come to your house because that's that's where you live. Well, God dwelt in Jerusalem at his house. And so think about the Ethiopian eunuch. Where did he go? He traveled from Ethiopia all the way to Jerusalem to worship God, to connect with God. And when he got to the temple, guess what? He didn't find God there. All he found was the bazaar of Annas.

All he found was uh this religious show. All he found was uh chaos and confusion. It's not a place to come and and meditate and pray. That place would have been loud with all the marketplace stuff going on. And so it had been hijacked by the high priest and his family. The house was built to connect with God, but you couldn't connect with God there. And Jesus said in John chapter two when he made a whip out of cords, John throws that in not to whip the people, but to drive out the livestock and to crack the whip and drive out the livestock.

They remembered that the scripture said in Psalm 69 verse nine, zeal for your house will consume me. And Jesus had such zeal for the house of God, has such a passion, such a fire for the house of God. He had zeal for the sacredness of communion with God. That's why he did what he did. That's why when he saw what they were doing in the temple, his blood began to boil. How dare you do this? Can you imagine going on a trip and you have somebody that you say, hey, can you watch the the house for us?

Debbie and I uh we have three dogs. And so whenever we go on a trip, we we have to get somebody to sit with the dogs. Now the little dogs, we have two little dogs and then we have big L's. And uh big L's is she was close to 80 lbs, but she's lost some weight and now she's down to a very swelt 73 lbs. And so but big L's is a she's a load. So you got to watch her. And if it's raining outside, anybody that has big dogs know when it's raining outside, it's brutal because they they track in all the the wet and the mud and the things like that.

Little dogs don't do that. So we got to get somebody to to stay at our house to watch the dogs cuz we don't Debbie doesn't want to board them. And so uh can you imagine you you get somebody to watch your house. You go out of town. You get somebody to watch your house. You come home at the end of three or four days and you walk in and the house is filled with people doing drugs, with people committing acts of sexual immorality, with people doing shots, with terrible things happening to little kids. That's in your house.

And you come home to that and you say, what in the world is going on here? And you're not nice about it. You kick everybody out pronto. How dare you do that to my house? That's what Jesus saw. That's what they did to his father's house. Zeal for your house will consume me. And the reproach is the insults of those who reproach you have fallen on me. He had zeal for the sacredness of the place where people communed with God.

Larry Nobles: Well, we'll return in just a moment with part two of the lesson, Flipping Tables, from the brand new six lesson series, Watch and Pray, from pastor Jeff Shreve. But first, he'd like to invite you on a trip of a lifetime. Pastor?

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Hi, pastor Jeff here. And I'm excited to announce that we'll be going to Israel in 2027. Our trip is set for April second through the 11th. And we would love for you to join us as we walk where Jesus walked. Hey, this is truly the trip of a lifetime as the sacred places you've only read about will now be seen up close and in full color. You can find out all the details by going to our website fromhishart.org. That's fromhishart.org and follow the link titled Holy Land 2027. I look forward to having you with us for this awesome experience in the land of Israel.

Larry Nobles: What a great opportunity. Again, you can find out all the details and more by going to the Holy Land trip link on our homepage at promiseheart.org. Remember, you'll return from the trip with a little piece of the world you'll never forget. Now let's conclude today's lesson from the Watch and Pray series called Flipping Tables.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: I think it's interesting. It says in verse 16, and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. See, some people, good number of people were the money changers and selling animals and things like that. And then the people that were forced to buy all that stuff at those exorbitant prices. But then you had other people that would just cut through the temple grounds through the court of the Gentiles. They'd cut through because that was a faster way to get to the other side of the city. We just make this a shortcut. He wouldn't permit them to do that.

You're not going to do that. This is a sacred place. And this court of the Gentiles where Gentiles can pray to God and meet God and connect with God, that should be a place of quietness, a place of meditation, not a place that smells like a barn, not a place that's uh filled with all kinds of chaos and noise. And you're not going to cut through here and turn this into some kind of shortcut. Now I was thinking about this. This happens in our church. This happens in so many churches. You know, when the when the sermon is over, people say, well, the service is over.

No, in our church when the sermon is over, we've pointed the way to Jesus. Now is the time to connect with God. Now is the most important part of it all, God's time, the time that we invite people to trust Jesus, the time that we invite people to the throne of grace, the time to pray, the time to connect with God. And what do people say? I'm going to cut out. I'm going to get out. I I'm going to beat people out of the parking lot. I I need I I've had enough church. I'm going to go.

And you go. And every time a person gets up before the service is over and especially during God's time, during that invitation time, you distract other people. You have to get out and you distract other people. It's the same thing that Jesus did not permit them to come through the temple. Hey, this is not a shortcut. This is the house of the living God. John Heggie, pastor of Cornerstone Church some years ago, I heard him say this, that people were leaving during the invitation time at Cornerstone. Now John Heggie is stronger than an acre of garlic.

Uh he he if he doesn't care if he you get mad at him, but he people were leaving and he got up and he told the ushers. He said, ushers, close the doors. And he told the congregation, this isn't Randy's rodeo. We are here worshiping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is not a cut through. This is not a shortcut. This is not something that you just say, well, I don't really care anymore. I'm staying here till the last day men. We can be guilty of doing what they were doing and not even know it.

Says in the book of Malachi, when they were bringing their mangy offerings to the Lord, the Lord was angry and rightfully so. And he said, my name is great among the nations. You're bringing me your mangy sacrifices to me, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How dare you do that? And how dare they come through there? And how dare they hijack the house of the living God? Now nobody stopped him. His authority was on full display. This is God in the flesh. Nobody came up and said, you can't do that. How dare you do that?

I'm going to I going to fight you, Jesus. Nobody did that. Why? Cuz when the lion of the tribe of Judah is roaring, you back up. And they backed up. Says in verse 18, the chief priests and the scribes heard this how he said, is is it not written my house should be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a robber's den? And the chief priests and the scribes heard this and began seeking how to destroy him. For they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

Those guys that were so corrupt, they saw Jesus. Jesus is exposing their hypocrisy. He is pulling off the the blinders saying these guys uh they trust in their own good works. These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me, but in vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. And they hated him for it. And they said, this guy deserves to die. But after Jesus cleansed the temple, after he got all that out, what does Matthew say in his gospel? And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them.

Then the Lord once the house was cleaned, then the Lord was able to meet the people and bless the people and heal the people. And people were able to come to him. And guess what? People could connect to the God of the universe. That's what the house is for. Tomorrow marks my 23rd year as pastor here. I came February 9th 2003. And I remember when I interviewed with the pastor search committee, I asked, I said, what what is the what's the reputation of First Baptist Texarkana among the people who live here? And Nathan Wright, who's with the Lord now, he was the chairman of the committee and he and others said, it's known as a country club.

That's what people around town would say about our church. Now they didn't say that, but they said that's that's some of the knock against the church. It's it's a country club. It it's a place for the the upper crust of Texarkana. Well, as you know, a church is not a a country club. Church is a as a hospital for hurting people. But people in the community didn't see First Baptist Texarkana as a hospital for hurting people. They saw it as a country club. I can't go there. I don't have enough money. I don't have the right clothes.

I'm not in the right social circles, so I can't go there. The church had a lot of trouble financially, barely making budget on a number of years. I remember Gary Treadway. He told me one day, he said early on, he said, Jeff, First Baptist Texarkana doesn't have a money problem. It has a heart problem. Has a heart problem. And if the hearts get right, guess what? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The the heart and the the the money are connected. And so if a person's heart gets right, then there won't be any financial problems.

I had a guy tell me just this week, he said, I grew up in Texarkana. He said, I went to First Baptist when I was in high school and college in the late '70s, early '80s. And he said, the church wasn't very friendly. That's how he remembered it. And he said it seemed kind of snobbish, elitist. And he said um and there was all this fighting going on. Every You know, it was that was right at the time that the church was moving from downtown to out here and just fighting going on and things in the newspaper and stuff not going right and and you know, he said as a young guy just said, I don't want to have anything to do with that.

He moved away. He worked his whole career. And he and his wife retired and they came back to Texarkana in 2018. He said, we were looking for a good church. And uh I had already written off First Baptist Texarkana. I said, we're not going there. I've I've been to that place. I know what that place is like. And they couldn't find a church and his wife and and he were invited by somebody at the gym saying, why don't you come to First Baptist Texarkana? He said, no, we don't want to go there. And got invited again and again.

And so he finally said, okay, we'll go. So he said, I came and I got greeted and people were so friendly. And and your your preaching spoke to our hearts and the spirit of God was there. And my wife on the way home said, this is where we need to go to church. And he said, we went to the membership class and we joined the church and we are so glad that we did. It's totally different than what it was. Cuz we're not supposed to be a country club. His house is to be a house of prayer.

In 2003, a song came out from Brooklyn Tabernacle. The same year I came here just a few months later, this song came out from Brooklyn Tabernacle. Jim Cymbala, the pastor. This is your house. Father, come and dwell. This is your house, a holy house of prayer where the lost and the lonely bring their burdens and their cares. This is your house. This is your house. Come and dwell. Holy Spirit, overflow this place. Decorate our walls with grace and mercy. Let healing and redemption find searching souls. Lord, have your way. We humbly pray. This is your house.

This is your house. Father, come and dwell. Jesus said, my house shall be called a house of prayer, not just for Jews, but for all the nations, for all the people. And people can come to me. We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy. Do you need to be forgiven? Do you need God's mercy? You can come to the throne of grace and receive mercy and forgiveness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

Hey, we're all just a bundle of needs every single one of us. And where do we go with our needs? The Lord says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Larry Nobles: Are you ready to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ? If so, the Lord offers you forgiveness of your sins and freedom to live for him when you repent of your sin and receive him by faith and not by works. Accept the gift of God he's offering you today in Jesus. Ask him to come in and save you and to be the Lord of your life. You will be changed for now and for eternity. And we invite you to go to our website, find out more about what that means and how that's going to impact you and your eternity.

Go to fromhishart.org, click the y Jesus link. Again, that's the y Jesus link. Get fromhishart.org. God bless you as you begin your new life in Christ. Hey, when you do go online, also sign up to receive the weekly Real Hope email encouragement devotional letter. It comes from pastor Jeff and it'll show up in your inbox every Friday morning. Just click the sign up page online. Well, that's all for today in the lesson Flipping Tables. I'm Larry Nobles trusting you'll be right back here tomorrow for the fifth lesson in pastor Jeff's Watch and Pray series. Join pastor Jeff Shreve on Thursday for the lesson, Can Prayer Change God's Mind?

That's next time here on Promise Heart.